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The present invention refers to a system for joining panels or boards used in particular
for prefinished wood floors.
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Even if specific reference will be made herein to wood panels, the invention also
extends to panels of other woody materials such as laminates, plywood, multilayer
wood, MDF and the like, provided they have adequate elasticity. Furthermore, even if
specific reference is made herein to wood or parquet floors, and the terms horizontal
and vertical refer to this situation, the invention also extends to wood coverings for
vertical or slanting walls.
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Panel joining systems are currently known to the art based on coupling of a male
element and a female element.
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The male part generally has a profile with parallel edges and the female part has a
matching slot. Consequently the male part of a panel can engage by tonguing inside
the female part of another panel.
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To ensure a good tightness of the joint minimal interference is necessary between the
male part and the female part. As a result installation of a wood floor using this
joining system requires a certain effort on the part of the operator who is forced to tap
the panel to be mounted with a suitable instrument, for example a parquet hammer, to
force the female part of said panel onto the male of the panel already laid.
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Said joining system presents drawbacks since it requires a certain skill on the part of
the operator to ensure that the join is perfect along its entire length.
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The object of the present invention is to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art by
providing a panel joining system adapted to simplify assembly operations and reduce
effort by the operator during said operation.
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Another object of the present invention is to provide such a panel joining system that
is able to ensure a good tightness of the joint.
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These objects are achieved in accordance with the invention with the characteristics
listed in appended independent claim 1.
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Advantageous embodiments of the invention are apparent from the dependent claims.
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The panel joining system according to the invention provides for the use of a panel
comprising a male part provided on at least one side of the panel and a female part
provided on at least one other side of the panel.
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The male part comprises a protrusion or rib, with a slightly smaller thickness
compared with the thickness of the panel, protruding outwardly from the respective
side edge of the panel along a plane substantially parallel to the plane of the panel.
This male protrusion has an incision along a plane substantially parallel to the plane of
the panel, so as to define two substantially flexible tongues in a transverse direction.
At least one of these tongues has at its end a tooth or thickening.
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The female part comprises a groove formed in the thickness of the respective side of
the panel, along a plane substantially parallel to the plane of the panel. This groove is
able to receive the male protruding part of another panel and has an entry narrowing
able to be passed by said at least one tooth of the protruding male part.
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Further characteristics of the invention will be made clearer by the detailed description
that follows, referring to a purely exemplary and therefore non limiting embodiment
thereof, illustrated in the appended drawings, in which:
- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a panel according to the invention;
- Figure 2 is a perspective view of the panel of Figure 1 turned 180°;
- Figure 3 is a plan view of the panel of Figure 1;
- Figure 4 is cross sectional or longitudinal sectional view, partially broken off, taken
along the plane of section A-A or B-B of Figure 3;
- Figure 5 is a sectional view like Figure 4, illustrating a second embodiment of the
panel according to the invention;
- Figure 6 is a sectional view, partially broken off, illustrating joining of two panels
according to the second embodiment of the invention.
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A system for joining panels according to the invention is described with the aid of the
figures.
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In Figures 1, 2 and 3 a wood panel according to the invention, denoted as a whole with
reference numeral 1, is illustrated. The panel 1, by way of example, is substantially
rectangular in shape, but can be of another shape, such as square, triangular and the
like.
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As shown better in Figure 4, a protruding male part 2 and a recessed female part 3 are
formed on the two opposite major sides (section A-A of Fig. 3) of the panel 1; a
protruding male part 2 and a recessed female part 3 are also formed on the opposite
minor sides (section B-B of Fig. 3) of panel 1.
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The male part 2 is shaped as a protrusion or rib with a linear profile that protrudes
outwardly from the respective side edge of the panel 1, along a horizontal plane
parallel to the plane of the panel. The female part 3 is shaped as a groove formed,
along a horizontal plane, in the respective side edge of the panel 1.
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Returning to Figures 1-3, since the panel 1 is rectangular, the male part 2 is
substantially L-shaped and extends for a good part of the length of the two adjacent
sides of the panel 1, leaving free two end portions 11 (Fig. 3) of said adjacent sides of
the panel 1. The female part 3 also is substantially L-shaped and extends for the entire
length of the other two adjacent sides of the panel 1.
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Returning to Figure 4, the male protrusion 2 has a smaller thickness than the total
thickness of the panel 1 and is disposed approximately on the midline with respect to
the horizontal axis of the thickness of the panel 1.
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A cut 20 is formed in the male protrusion 2 along a horizontal plane, approximately
along the midline axis of the thickness of the male protrusion 2. The cut 20 extends for
the entire protrusion 2 and also involves part of the thickness of the panel 1. The cut
20 can extend into the thickness of the panel 1 even for a portion equal to roughly the
width of the protrusion 2.
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The cut 20 divides the male protrusion 2 into two tongues 21, 22 having a suitably
reduced thickness so as to be elastically flexible so as to be able to bend elastically in a
vertical direction. In particular, if the cut 20 is made slightly below the midline of the
thickness of the male protrusion 2, the lower tongue 22 can have a smaller thickness
than the upper tongue 21 and thus greater elasticity.
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At the end of each tongue 21, 22 there is provided a respective thickening or
outwardly protruding tooth 23, 24 which extends for the entire length of the tongue.
The teeth 23, 24 protrude upwards and downwards, respectively, from the respective
upper and lower tongues 21, 22 so as to give rise to respective abutment surfaces 25,
26 which can be step-shaped or in the form of inclined planes. The ends 27, 28 of the
teeth 23, 24 are suitably chamfered or rounded.
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The female part 3 has a recessed seat or groove 30 formed, along a horizontal plane, in
the thickness of the panel 1, approximately along the midline axis of the thickness of
the panel 1, in any case positioned in such a way that when the male is housed therein,
the surfaces of the adjacent panels are aligned. The female seat 30 has a width suitable
to receive the thickness of the male protrusion 2 and the depth of the seat 30 is greater
than the width of the male protrusion 2.
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The recessed seat 30 is defined between an upper potion 31 and a lower portion 32 of
the thickness of the side of the panel 1. The upper and lower portions 32, 32 have in
their inside surface respective inwardly protruding edges 33, 34 which extend along
the entire length of the seat 30.
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The edges 33, 34 define a narrowing at the entry to the seat 30 and respective
abutment surfaces 35, 36, step-shaped or in the form of inclined planes, in the upper
and lower portions 31, 32 which delimit a wider part at the bottom of the seat. The
inside end comers 37 and 38 of the upper and lower portions 31, 32 are suitably
tapered or rounded.
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Figure 5 illustrates a second embodiment of a panel 1 according to the invention,
wherein like reference numerals are used to denote like or corresponding parts to those
of the first embodiment. In the second embodiment the tooth of the upper tongue 21 of
the male and the corresponding edge of the upper portion 31 of the female have been
eliminated. Clearly the tooth and the corresponding edge may also be provided only in
the upper tongue 21 of the male and in the upper part 31 of the female, respectively.
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Figure 6 illustrates the joint between two panels 1, 1' according to the second
embodiment. The two panels 1, 1' are positioned on a flat surface, such as a floor, so
as to have the female part 3 of the panel 1' facing the male part 2 of the panel 1.
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The panel 1' is moved towards the panel 1. In this manner, the rounded parts 27, 28 of
the tongues 21, 22 of the male 2 come into contact with the rounded parts 37, 38 of the
upper and lower portions 31, 32 of the female which act as a lead-in, so as to bring
about inward bending of the tongues 21, 22 of the male.
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Once the tooth 24 of the lower tongue 22 of the male has passed beyond the edge 34 of
the lower part 32 of the female, passing beyond the narrowing of the seat 30 of the
female, the lower tongue 22 of the male springs elastically outward, moving away
from the upper tongue 21 and the tooth 24 of the tongue of the male settles into the
widest part of the female seat 30.
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In this situation a sufficient tightness of the joint is ensured. In fact separation of the
two panels 1, 1' is prevented by the fact that the abutment surface 26 of the tooth 24 of
the male lower tongue 22 abuts against the abutment surface 36 of the edge 34 of the
lower part 32 of the female.
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In any case, the addition of glue in the side edges of the male and female of the panels
improves the tightness of the joint. It must be considered that in this case a possible
excess of glue is absorbed both inside the female seat 30 and inside the cut 20 in the
male part.
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Numerous variations and modifications within the reach of a person skilled in the art
can be made to the present embodiments of the invention without thereby departing
from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.
- 1. A panel (1) particularly for wood floors and the like comprising a male
part (2) provided on at least one side of the panel and a corresponding female part (3)
provided on the opposite side of the panel characterised in that
- said male part (2) comprises a protrusion or rib, with a smaller thickness than
the thickness of the panel (1) protruding outward from the respective side edge of the
panel (1) along a plane substantially parallel to the plane of the panel, said male
protrusion (2) having a cut (20) along a plane substantially parallel to the plane of the
panel, so as to define two tongues (21, 22) substantially flexible in a transverse
direction, wherein at least one of said tongues (21, 22) has at its end a tooth or
thickening (24), and
- said female part (3) comprises a groove (30) formed in the thickness of the
respective side of the panel, along a plane substantially parallel to the plane of the
panel, said groove being able to receive the protruding male part (2) of another panel
and having an entry narrowing able to be passed over by said at least one tooth (24) of
the protruding male part.
- 2. A panel according to claim 1, characterised in that said groove (30) of the
female part (3) is defined between an upper portion (31) and a lower portion (32) of
the panel and said narrowing of the groove is obtained by means of at least one edge
(33, 34) formed on the inner surface of the upper (31) and/or lower portion (32).
- 3. A panel according to any one of claims 1 or 2, characterised in that said at
least one edge (33, 34) gives rise to an abutment surface shaped as a step or inclined
plane (35, 36) in the respective upper/lower part (31, 32) of the female part (3) and
said at least one tooth (23, 24) gives rise to an abutment surface shaped as a step or
inclined plane (25, 26) in the respective upper/lower tongue (21, 22) of the male part
(2).
- 4. A panel according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that
said cut (20) in the protrusion of the male part (2) is formed along a plane coinciding
with the midline plane of the thickness of the male part (2) so as to obtain two tongues
(21, 22) having the same thickness.
- 5. A panel according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterised in that said
cut (20) in the protrusion of the male part (2) is formed along a plane above or below
the midline plane of the thickness of the male part (2) so as to obtain two tongues (21,
22) having different thicknesses and elasticity.
- 6. A panel according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that
the depth of said cut (20) is greater that the protrusion of said male protruding part (2).
- 7. A panel according to claim 6, characterised in that the depth of said cut
(20) is equal to about double the protrusion of the protruding male part (2).
- 8. A panel according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that
it is used for joining flooring elements.
- 9. A panel according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that
it is made of wood.
- 10. A panel according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that
it is made of multiply wood.
- 11. A panel joining system, characterised in that it employs panels (1, 1')
according to any one of the preceding claims.
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